


silver sunlight [or is it just the moon?]

by librassynthenol



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: :), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, SORRY YALL, Slow Romance, i had this idea in a dream don't @ me ok, lets just ignore the fact that i keep writing fake relationship fics, ok thank u
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-21 16:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30024390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/librassynthenol/pseuds/librassynthenol
Summary: A group of unlikely friends. A lovesick professor who'll never confess his feelings. A scientist who'd never fall in love. A drunken pact. A red carpet event. Assistants, fake relationships and unrequited feelings. All in a day's work for Voyager University
Relationships: Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway, Chakotay/Seven of Nine, b'elanna&tom paris
Comments: 19
Kudos: 20





	1. we gonna tell her he's a professor?

**Author's Note:**

> Good Morning, i have watched Four Seasons of Voyager and am now shipping Janeway and Chakotay proFUSELY. Its also five am. Eh. So i had an idea to make a nice lil voyager university/professor kinda au, and a bunch of racebends lol. I actually havent BEEN to university (or college in the us) so i am literally just. Guessing things. plEASE tell me if i got anything wrong becAUSE i wanna make this ✨realistic✨ as possible. 
> 
> This fic i hOPE is gonna be super fun bc i KNOW i have a LOT of research into a wide rage of things;   
> Chakotay’s tribe  
> South African culture  
> medical/engineering/psychology university courses  
> Mexican culture  
> Hatian culture  
> (to name a few lol)
> 
> Also YES i’m race bending nearly everyone. Kes is from Hati , B’lenna is argentine, Seven is Indian, Kathryn is half arab half irish. Mainly because i want poc rep in fics, and Perhaps I Will Have to make it Bare Handed if i have to. 
> 
> also a biG sorry because some of this mIGHT be OOC, this is my first voy fic and ive tried my best to keep em in character but tell me if something's gone wrong!!!
> 
> As always, I hope u like this!!! AND! tell me if i have any grammar/ spellings wrong n i'll fix it!!!!   
> I have BIG PLANS for this fic :0000 so stay tuned!!

Annika tucked a strand of long black hair, her brown eyes ashine in the sunlight. They turned back to the Mac, carefully reading each cell on the excel sheet in front of her. She placed her chin on her hand, elbows on the table. Sitting next to her, another girl lazily mixed her coffee with a long wooden stirrer, the soft evening light illuminating her blonde tipped hair. 

“Long day?” Bella slipped onto the bench in front of the two, her own tanned hands’s tremors subsiding slowly after touching the warm carry cup of her expresso. 

“Tell me about it,” Kes rolled her eyes, and took a small sip from her cup. She scrunched up her face, and the two others couldn’t help but crack a smile. 

“I don’t know about you two, but I’ve got an insane amount to study for.” Bella groaned, “I’m gonna need all the goddamn expresso I could ever get my hands on.” 

“Engineering pissing you off again?” Annika smiled, gaze never leaving her excel sheet as she continued to add results to it. 

“Fuck you natural science student.” She leaned back into the sun, her brown dark hair slipping out of it’s high headband. The two could smell the engine oil off her, splotches clinging onto those yellow tops she always wore. Her engineering manual for the 1985 ford stuck out of her book, her latest project.

“It could be worse,” her eyes finally left her laptop, hand snaking its way to Bella’s cup, leeching it’s warmth, “I could be a medical student.” 

“Yeah yeah whatever.” Kes mocked them, her forehead creasing as she pulled herself closer to herself and the cup. 

The lazy march evening was quickly catching up with them, the promise of spring going hand in hand with the cold of late winter. The second semester of the year was waning, with exams looming above Starfleet University. 

Annika sighed, her breath misting in front of her eyes. Her head ached, eyes unfocusing slowly; she rubbed a hand over her forehead, pushing her curtain bangs to the side.

“Hey hey, ann, take a chill pill,” Bella squeezed her hand, “you’ve been working nonstop for the past six hours.” 

“Piss off,” she rubbed her hands, her nose slightly red, it comes out as a dry laugh, “It’s not like you’ve never worked ten days straight.”

Bella blinked, remembering that day when she’d spent almost 19 hours under a car, tweaking away at a dull yellow volkswagen beetle. It  _ did  _ sound a little hypocritical from her. 

“Yeah and then they overslept nine days, her grades came down crashing, and she made very poor decisions those nine days.” Kes commented, long delicate fingers reaching for a small ginger snap on the ceramic plate placed on the table.

“Gee thanks Kes,” Bella crossed her arms, short hair swinging behind her as she leaned forward “Idiota, you didn’t have to tell her about that.” 

“Yeah bu-”

“How old was I?” she scoffed, playing into Kes’s smile, “Like, fourteen.”

It was easy for Annika to forget that Bella and Kes had known each other for nearly five years, known each other since one was shy and new to the country and the other was a hyperactive kid who took radios apart for fun. 

It was easy for anyone to assume Annika knew the other two for as long as they knew each other; but in the four months since university started - since she started being their roommate - she’d adapted fast to their mannerisms, their quirks. She’d also done her absolute best to try and fit in with them, try and ‘integrate’ (as Bella would put it) herself with the others. 

It wasn’t like it was easy for her to make friends, she’d always been awkward, jutting out. She’d recently realised that the majority of people liked her for how she looked, not who she was. (She wanted to kick herself for not realising this sooner. Everything would have made sense if she did.  _ God why did she have to be like this _ )

  
  


She’d been expecting University to go the same way as middle school, as high school. Being used, thrown away, scapegoated. She mentally prepared herself that she wouldn’t be (she couldn’t be) hurt with whatever people threw at her.

And then she’d stepped into Voyager, its cool air, bustling crowds wildly different to the musty air of Florida. Or India before that. 

And then she’d met Kes and Bella, the duo who’d welcomed her and her awkward smiles into their house and life. 

They’d  _ liked _ her. 

And that was something she was so grateful for. 

“Hey, Anni?” Kes muttered, nudging her, and she snapped back to the present, Bella clicking her fingers in front of her face. 

“Where did you go?” She asked, downing the last of her drink, the sunlight was fading fast, a grey overcast blocking it.

“Would you believe me if I told you I went to a spaceship in space….” Annika started, smiling, “in my BRAIN??” 

The two looked at her, their smiles intact, but slightly confused. 

Ah, okay, it had sounded much funnier in her head.

“Moving on…” she muttered,  _ when would she learn that things in her head wouldn't be as perfect as they sounded. _

“Anyway, spaceship or whatever, we were talking about professors.” Bella started, a grin creeping up on her face, “Have you seen the dean’s car collection?”

“Who? Dean Paris?” Annika questioned, eyebrows raised. She tucked her knees under her chin, leaning a little on Kes.

“Yeah, you know, he’s got this huge garage, for himself! Can you believe it?!” Her eyes went wide, and Annika could visibly see Kes sigh, her warm breath on her open arm. 

“No, no I cannot.” Kes looked exasperated, but her kind eyes were still evident, Annika knew she’d do anything for both of them, even sit through another half baked TED talk by Bella about cars and engines. 

Bella spluttered, pulling out her manual, “Look, he’s got this ‘85 ford scorpio, like proper proper vintage edition.”

“So like...from 1985?” 

“Yes!” Her hands flicked open to the braking system, “Have you seen these brakes? The things I’d do to them if I owned them…” She sighed, dreamily.

“Expand?” Kes squished herself closer to Annika, sharing their warmth. Bella was too excited to care about the cold. As the early evening’s twilight fell over the cafe, the purple and orange hues filtered into the booth, the area around the small window getting darker, and colder. 

Annika’s purple turtleneck was soft, form fitting, and warm; and Kes loved to lean on it, pillowlike. Her leggings were complete with fluffy leg warmers, and Kes noticed she looked effortless. She’d seen how many people just took her at face value, didn’t really care about her. But she knew better, ever since she’d shown up at their doorstep with three suitcases and a go-to cup of tea, Annika had fit right in with Bella and her, fitting into their rhythm. Being the dawn between her Midnight, and Bella’s midday. 

She shivered again, her own pinstripe dress was slightly loose on her, the shirt underneath following the same suit. Her purple ear-muffs stayed around her neck, keeping it snug. Bella was wearing a short yellow crop top, yellow oil stained overalls lying on the side of the bench in a small ball. Kes reached over for them, Bella too invested in her conversation (mostly just her talking, but Kes could see how interested Annika looked.) wrapping them around herself. 

She felt warm...at home. 

Just the three of them, in a small coffee shop on campus. 

Annika’s eyes drifted over to the table behind the person currently talking, she  _ was  _ listening to Bella go on and on about different tyre types  _ per say _ ; but her gaze wasn't on her. 

Instead it was on a man sitting a few meters away, dark eyes focused on a large textbook. His strong hands, which looked well suited to working on clay rather than anything else, were now annotating and highlighting a thick textbook, whilst occasionally stopping to catch a sip of his drink. He wore an untucked white shirt, sleeves rolled up to reveal equally strong arms, lying idly on the table. [ She bit her lip, surprised that her mind’s first thought upon seeing him was, “ _ shouldn’t he be cold? _ ” and not anything else. ] A trench coat, the water droplets on it evident, was hung behind him, on his chair.

  
  


If Annika squinted, she could almost see the ends of a name scribbled on the light brown cup,  _ something ’-kotay _ ’. 

As if he could see her watching, he looked up, and their eyes locked, an intense stare meeting her own shy, curious one. He let out an easy smile towards her, before swallow of his coffee(?), and Annika could feel her cheeks heating up. She didn’t even notice Bella ceasing to talk, and share a mischievous look with Kes in front of her. 

“Wanna go say hi?” she shrugged, and saw Kes’ lips press tightly. 

“Sure, why not?” she shrugged, her lightly accented voice wavering as she stood up, empty cup in her hand. 

She turned towards the bin, missing Bella’s sly smirk towards Kes. Her own mouth’s ends quirked upwards, but she managed to keep a straight face as Annika’s uncertain eyes met her own.

“You’re gonna do fine.” she whispered, patting her hand. Annika beamed back at her, more sure of herself. 

“Yeah…” she inhaled a deep breath of the cold air around her, nodding a little and making her way to the man “Yeah I think I will do fine.”

“So are we gonna tell her he’s an anth-” 

“No shh! She honestly set herself up for this.” Bella interrupted Kes’s soft voice, a little giddy. 

  
This was going to be  _ hilarious _ . 


	2. dont go on milkshake dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course it was Chakotay. She wouldn’t let anyone else take care of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi im updating so fast bc i just. i just had to write this. i just hAD to introduce janeway and harry i couldnt NOt introduce em.  
> now we’ve got the whole gang together!!! 
> 
> Honestly i am just tossin aside my end of year revison for this. Like. I dont need sleep, I dont need grades, i need this Very Specific Au to be a real thing. 
> 
> Once again @ me if any grammar or spelling r wonky ill fix em!!!!

"Your coffee, Cap." The young man held out a warm cup. He had shiny black hair parted down the middle. 

The 7am light was not yet filtering in through the windows of the large office he stood in. The red-haired lady sitting in the large leather chair before him swiveled around to meet his tired eyes with her own, equally tired, icy blue ones.

“Shukhraan Harry,” she yawned, running her long-fingered hand ran through her dark messy red hair, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Don’t mention it,” he smiled, collapsing in the chair next to her, feet idly pushing it from side to side. Exhaustion had really caught up to him in the past few hours, the heavy weight of all the hours he’d stayed up suddenly crashing down on him, like a ton of bricks.

A chilly draught breezed in through the window, and he shivered in his black sweater. He half wanted to stand up and go grab a coffee for himself, but his body wasn’t willing to budge an inch.

“We close to finishing yet?” He sighed, pulling his hands into the knitted warmth. Dr Janeway looked at him, then back to the large machine. She shook her head, pouting; the Carbon Evaluator was nowhere close to finishing it’s analysis of the scrolls.

“Oh what I wouldn’t do to have Tuvok here.” she groaned, muscles aching as she moved an arm to the test tubes in front of her. There was a slow change in the pH of the sample, adding another hundred years to their previous estimations of the age of these scrolls.

_Where the fuck did Chakotay manage to get these from now?_

“An extra hand wouldn’t have hurt.” He kept those dark chocolatey eyes on the screen, looking for some kind of fluctuations on the steadily still graph.

“It’s such a shame he’s not here to see the fruit of a year of his research." She took a sip of the coffee, keeping her hands around the mug rather than holding the handle. She could feel it rising back up in her throat, and she swallowed hard to keep it down. Her assistant and protégée didn’t need to see her throwing up all over the table after three straight all nighters.

“It’s fine, his wife’s giving birth in a few days, and we’re no closer to finishing.” He sucked in a deep breath, cold hair filling into his mouth, “and, I don’t think he’d have liked this.”   
  


She knew he was talking about how many hours they’d stayed up, Tuvok was always the one in their team who rested at least seven hours each night.   
  


“At ease,” she saw his uncertain expression as she paused, thoughts taking over her mind, “we should probably get some rest.”

She could imagine how much of a wreck she looked, having last brushed her hair a day ago. The entire room smelled of coffee grounds (their only way of keeping themselves awake), pizza (sustenance), dust (from the old paper. Kathryn was sure it was basically dust anyway. She honestly didn’t know what Chakotay saw in those things.) and chemicals. 

Lots and lots of chemicals.

“Harry?” she whispered, nudging his shoulder slightly with a tanned hand, “are you awake?”

Her response was a couple of incoherently mumbled words, and he turned the other side, eyes tightly shut. She blinked, exhaling loudly and decided to stand up. As she did, blood rushed to her head, and she felt unsteady, the world swirling around her; an array of greys and whites, mixed with the vibrant reds and blues of the ornaments standing on the shelves.

She trudged over to the cupboard, hands grasping for two woollen blankets, and almost immediately identifying them by their roughness .

Turning around, she slowly opened one, shaking it out before shuffling back to Harry, now uncomfortably lying over the armchair. He’d curled up into a ball, probably to conserve body heat, his neck craned around his knees, head and legs resting sideways on the soft arm of the chair. 

She placed the blanket over him, making sure he was well covered as she saw small shivers escaping from his sleeping form. “Morning Harry,” she softly said, a tired smile on her face as she ruffled his hair. Over these past few months, the young assistant had grown into her icy heart, more like a son to her than anything else. 

She’d honestly never understood the appeal of being a parent, until she’d come across 18 year old Harry, a shy, young intern who was really really interested in science. He was meant to be working alongside her boss’s son - Tom. 

In the year she’d worked with Harry, she’d come to realise that he was more trustworthy, reliable, somewhat better (?) than Tom. And so for the promotion, a promotion to a full time scientist, she’d stunned everyone in the room, by offering it to Harry rather than Tom. It was worth the dressing down Owen had given her, Harry was objectively better than Tom, who never showed up.

It was then _Harry’s_ turn to surprise, by refusing to take the job if Tom didn’t. 

Kathryn learnt two things that day; One - Tom wasn’t that trashy of a person, he just never made an effort in things he didn’t care about, and Two - Harry Kim and Tom Paris were some of the staunchest pair of friends she’d ever met. 

She pulled the blanket around her, burritoing the wool around herself, feeling the usual roughness of the Delta-Quad regulation blankets. 

The soft morning light was slipping into the room, and she made her way to the large windows after grabbing her coffee. Kathryn could see the London skyline lit up, buildings drowning in the bold orange of the morning.

She smiled to herself, eyes reaching the large, metallic steeple of Voyager university. 

Chakotay should probably be asleep now, his apartment probably in pindrop silence. But if Kathryn knew him, he’d be wide awake, tossing and turning waiting for the final results on the Armenian scrolls he’d found on an excavation. She knew he wouldn’t be sleeping peacefully if she wasn’t. 

It was just something they both did.

A pattern they’d fallen into, unable to fall asleep without knowing if the other already had. 

She found this habit of theirs endearing, and in the six years she’d known him, it only drew them closer.

As if right on cue, her phone rang, the familiar ‘Marimba’ ringtone buzzing around the room; Kathryn stepped over to the glass coffee table, picking it up with a blanketed hand. 

“Kathryn?” A rich warm baritone filled her ear, and she sighed at it, almost dreamily. ( If she wasn’t as sleep deprived as this, she’d have never done that. But she was. She was extremely sleep deprived ) 

“Kathryn?” The voice asked again, a tone of urgency to it, and she cleared her throat.

“Yeah yeah I’m here?” 

“You sure about that?” He spoke, voice worried through the phone, “How much sleep have you gotten in the past week?”

“Like uh…” She hummed, thinking about it, she’d been awake nearly four fays straight.

“Exactly,” he sighed, and Kathryn could almost see his frustrated face as he brushed a bronze hand over his forehead, stray strands of short black hair falling over his intricate black tattoo.

“It’s fine, we got the scroll dating in minimum time though,” she leaned back to see the screen behind Harry, still calculating the last of the carbon in the old pieces of paper(?), “nearly.” 

She could hear a small chuckle from the other end, and she could imagine his beaming face, lightening the tension between them. 

“Thanks Kathryn, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Gee thanks,” she heard his yawn through the speakers, “how long have you been awake?”

“I’ve been taking a few naps here and there,” she pressed her forehead against the cool window as he spoke, “but not really getting a good night’s rest.”

“Okay, maybe…” she took a little breath, eyeing the clock, mentally working out how much time she could doze for, and wake up for her shift on time, “maybe let’s both go to sleep for five hours?”

“Alright I’m listening,” he hummed through the phone.

“And, its enough time for you to grab lunch and start your classes.” 

“That's a Valid Point Dr Janeway.” His warmth was fet through the line, and she’d have loved to see his kind face, and probably hug him, having strong arms envelop her.

There was a pause, Kathryn lost in staring outside, into the bustling city. And Chakotay, probably lost in one of his own thoughts. The silence was comfortable, both hearing each other’s breaths in the call.

“Anything else I can do for you?” He broke the tranquil moment, and Kathryn rubbed her eyes, the city not so enchanting anymore. The sofa looked quite inviting now, even as it was bathed in soft tones. 

“Hmmm,” she mumbled, her only thought reminding her of the film she’d last watched, “Don’t go on dates with someone in a Milkshake shop.” She yawned, and he laughed again.

“No of course I won’t go on milkshake dates like a high schooler,” she could hear the springs of the bed from his side, he was probably slipping into bed, “should I question this?”

“No,” Kathryn was probably half delirious, and she felt herself roll onto the leather sofa, “goodnight Chakotay.”

She fell asleep as soon as she closed her eyes, blanket around her as she burrowed her face closer into one corner of the sofa. 

Chakotay’s whispered goodnight went unheard by her, and he felt a small pang in his heart. 

Couldn’t he tell her? Couldn’t he ever muster up the courage to tell her how much he loved her?

He drifted off to sleep, mind still astorm with thoughts, phone uncut, hearing the beeps of the lab in his own room.

  
  


When Harry awoke the next morning, he cast his eyes down at Dr Janeway, fast asleep on the sofa. He could hear the rustling over covers, and diverted his gaze to the side, seeing Kathryn’s phone still on call with someone for more than four and a half hours. 

_Of course it was Chakotay. She wouldn’t let anyone else take care of her._

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :) leave a kudo !! Or a comment 👀👀👀👀👀


	3. milkshake dates?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHAHAHAHA i lured u all in on the premise of J/C but now have written an entire chapter of C/7. PSYCH. 
> 
> ok no im not here for chakotay/seven ,,,but it’s there ,,,, for p l o t stuff.
> 
> i feel like seven doesnt rlly know whats going on with emotions n feelings and chakotay just needs a shoulder to cry on ✨ 
> 
> also hes like. Fully Pining for janeway here, in the background. so yes, j/c will happen, im just gonna make u sit through c/7 tho, for the funnies. (Also like the c/7 here is mostly just them first not being able to distinguish romantic from platonic - but it’s really just platonic, so yeah,,,,)
> 
> also yell at me as usual over any grammar mistakes and Stuff!! also wish me luck for my physics test 😬😬😬

Chakotay found himself in a milkshake shop, the one just outside Starfleet campus. The one which tried to bring an old timey aesthetic into a crowd of the contemporary. The one which sold milkshakes in dinky little period cups. The one which he’d hoped to take a certain redhead on a date with.

They’d come to this place time and time before, scorching summers, dampened with the sweet sips of milkshakes taken in the afternoons. He’d watched her blue eyes lighten up whenever he’d bring her the ‘Mocha Midsummers’ shake (he had to make a special request to the waitress to make it with extra caffeine, Kathryn didn’t like it any other way.) in its own little blue cup. Her thin red lips nibble the straw tentatively, waiting for him to sit down beside her. 

But it was all platonic, and he knew it. 

His heart ached, feeling suspended, caught in her icy blue. He couldn’t bring himself to try and ask her out; or at the very least, tell her about her feelings. She was something he could  _ never  _ have. Ever since he’d met her, she’d been in a long term relationship with Mark...who was barely even there for her. 

Then the breakup happened, (It was long coming. It had been oh so long coming. He knew Kathryn was trying to make it work, but he saw it breaking before his eyes. He felt a sick joy, at least his heart wasn’t the only thing breaking.) and he was her shoulder, her steady rock. Her anchor to reality, a constant in her life, he  _ couldn’t _ take advantage of her, he would never. 

He’d half expected her to start dating someone else again, a short rebound relationship. But in the past two years, Kathryn had done everything to keep herself away from a romantic relationship, and done everything to keep herself closed off, focused on her job. 

He’d half hoped she’d give him a chance to tell her.

But this was  _ Kathryn _ , he knew she’d never turn back to romantic feelings, after Mark breaking off their engagement. She wasn’t one to turn back at a failure, or anything to do with a failure. 

That meant romantic love was out of the question. But Chakotay was grateful she hadn’t ended up cutting everyone (him) out of her life,  _ let him stand by her.  _

_ Let him love her, silently pine for her, unnoticed. _

He stirred his own banana one with a straw, fingers curling around the plastic cylinder. Dark brown eyes darted from the window, to the clock, and then back, as if he was expecting someone. 

He was here on some kind of date. One he’d been invited to, a gesture of friendship rather than anything else.

  
  


He scribbled a little more in his little leather diary, planning out another session on the Armenian scrolls Dr Janeway had precisely (more or less) carbon dates for him. 

“Chakotay!” He turned back to the beige door, recognising the bright voice. The owner of the aforementioned voice stepped into the room, a large grey woollen coat, covered her body; her long black hair, now a tangled mess beneath her hat.

“Annika!” He smiled, accepting the short hug she offered him, it felt warm, heartfelt, her slender arms tightening around his back. “I got your texts,” he pushed a small purple milkshake across the table.

“Candyfloss?” She asked, licking her lips, loving the sweet sugary smells wafting over the glass. 

“Yeah, you  _ did _ say you wanted that when I asked you if you wanted something from here.” He pressed his lips together, and he could see her light brown eyes trailing over his cupid's bow, chin on her both hands as she settled herself onto the table. 

  
  


Yesterday night, she could remember clearly; Bella had told her to let Chakotay get her something from the milkshake bar. 

“He’s fine! I know him!” She’d said, when Annika told her she’d scored a date with him. 

Kes had been smiling, her brown eyes twinkling. 

It was only half the truth, she didn’t _really_ _score_ a date, it was more of a ‘Friendly Meetup’ since he was rushing to get out of the café yesterday evening. Muttering something about a Dr Janeway and Armenian scrolls.

But it was great to tell them, euphoric to see their slack jawed faces as Annika smirked back at them. 

  
  


“Annika?” She looked up at that, blinking when she realised she’d just been staring at her, she replied with a little “hmmh?”, train of thought dashed as soon as he’d opened his mouth.

She found him objectively attractive, she’d have been lying if she thought otherwise. 

He was... _ handsome _ ...

But she didn’t  _ feel _ something for him.

She’d always assumed it would come, some kind of feelings would eventually come. She’d patiently waited through middle school, high school - anything. 

But she had yet to feel the bubbly, sugar pink feelings you got. The usual trip to the clouds, the giddiness, the head spin. 

She had nothing to lose, or that's what she kept repeating to herself, as she mustered up the courage to say a quick hello to him last evening. As she mustered up the courage to note down her number on a small piece of square tissue, and pass it over to him. As she mustered up the courage to text him throughout the night, their conversations backdropped by the twinkling stars in the night sky. 

“You okay there?” His soft voice ran over her ears, and she looked into his dark brown eyes. 

“Yeah yeah, I’m fine.” She sighed as she ran a small brown hand through her dark hair, long bangs sticking up as she did so, “It’s just been a long night.”

“Tell me about it,” his voice was light, “I barely slept.” 

“I hope that wasn’t because of me,” she joked, innuendo hinted in her teasing tone, and he turned to her, eyes more confused than anything else.

“I’m kidding bro,” her face hardened, and she realised she'd strayed too far with him, “was it work?”

He took a small sip of his yellow drink, the fluffy cream slowly sinking down into the depths of the yellow sea.

“You could say that…” he remembered last night, gone in a sleep deprived haze, switching between texting Annika and replying to Kathryn. 

“Is it something to do with-” she leaned over to see his scribbled notes, and caught the glimpse of some discernible words “-american scrolls?” 

“ _ Armenian _ Scrolls” he gently corrected her, “but yeah, I’ve been working on these for quite a while now.”

“Oh really?” she pushed herself onto the stool; legs swinging, not quite reaching the floor, “Tell me more?” 

“About what?” he questioned, his hands unconsciously tugging his earlobe.

“The scrolls of course,” she sounded excited, genuinely interested in those old pieces of paper (or dust, as Kathryn would call them. She didn’t really get his history thing- being someone who lived and breathed science. She liked thinking about the future, and never really dwelling on the past.) and whatever he had to say on them.

He took a deep breath, “So, have you heard of any of the Yerevan excavations that took place in 2010?” 

“No…?” 

“Well, Yerevan is in Armenia,” he paused, looking at Annika, who nodded, “and there archeologists found carvings and pieces of broken temples, from the 6th Century BCE.”

“Where do these scrolls come in?” She inquired, and he pushed his journal towards her, open on the pages where he’d clearly annotated pictures of scrolls, crumbling and breaking.

“An archeologist with,” he bit his straw, hesitating, “let’s just say  _ powerful  _ contacts.”

She wrapped her small hands around the milkshake, the cold seeping through the glass. Pulling her sleeves over her palms, she looked back at him, “ _ How _ powerful?”

“Very powerful. Powerful enough for her to be stealing an old stone box from the dig site.”

“So what,” she scoffed, “it’s just a box-”

“No,” he interrupted her, “it’s not  _ just  _ a box. The box held these...these scrolls.” 

“These scrolls?” she gestured to the polaroids in front of her, stuck or paperclipped onto grainy, yellow pages of the battered journal.

“Yeah, these scrolls. The Armenian scrolls.” 

“Chakotay, but where do  _ you  _ come in?” she pointed at him, a purple nail stabbing into his chest, dithering over his loose red shirt, the first two buttons open. 

“Me and my group of archaeologists,” he started, a sense of pride washing over him when he saw the younger woman gasp at that. Yes, they were  _ his  _ group of archaeologists,  _ his own  _ little ragtag crew of scientists, who’d banded together with him to get these back. These scrolls which helped him find people, people with everlasting warmth, people who considered him to be family, people who would do anything for him; he’d met Kathryn here. 

Kathryn who’d looked at him with those deep blue eyes, and told him everything was going to be okay. Kathryn who’d held out a hand, and pulled him out of the dusty pit he’d landed into. Kathryn, who'd offered to help him with the theft of the Armenian scrolls, to search for them like it was her problem, not the problem of a man she’d met fifteen minutes ago.’

Kathryn who’d introduced him to Vincent and Tuvok, to Neelisk, to try and relieve some of the pressure on him. Dr Tuvok, who just needed a few calls, to figure out where she went. Dr Neelisk, who took less than five minutes to chat his way into the seventh block in the capital city of Armenia. Vincent, who used multiple different weight sensors to figure out where she’d hidden the priceless scrolls. And Kathryn, who had finally figured out where they were. Finally found the opened box, and the tattered old scrolls. 

And then  _ She’d  _ come in. 

Chakotay was sure he couldn’t think of anything worse than her-

“Chakotay?” The accentless voice was here again, pulling him out of his spiral.

“Yeah?” he sheepishly answered.

“You were telling me about your team-”

“Yeah,” he smiled back at her, “yeah my team of archeologists. We found these in the walls of a hotel room.”

“Oh my,” Annika’s voice held obvious excitement , her dark eyes wide, pupils dilated. 

“Oh my indeed…” he chimed in with her, “it took us almost two years to find them.”

“Two whole years? For these?!” Her voice was incredulous, yet still genuine, he liked that about her, he liked her openness.

“It honestly took me most of those two years to try and figure out where they were being held.” He sucked in the last of his milkshake, the straw loud as air filled up inside it. 

“Why?” 

He froze, he usually never got as far as this in conversations, any conversations. He usually didn’t meet that many new people, and the people who knew him knew he never liked to talk about this,

“Chakotay?” Her voice was kind, soft, smooth, and she reached out, laying a warm hand onto his arm. For a moment, time stopped, and she felt herself draw circles on his inner wrist with her thumb. (she knew this was good. it calmed people down. she was especially proud of learning this.) Her touch was calming, and it broke the ice. 

“Because I fell for her,” he hung his head low, dark irises not meeting chocolatey sweet eyes of the woman opposite’s. 

“I fell for her charms and her promises, and I fell for her dreams-“ he swallowed, wishing he could shove these secrets down, back down his throat and never speak of them again. But something about Annika, made him want to spill everything, something about her calm voice and her interest in his life; wanted him to open up to her. “-they were my dreams as much as hers.”

“It's okay, people fall in love with the wrong people sometimes.” She gently offered, “I’ve fallen for the wrong people too.” (This was a lie, she hadn’t fallen for anyone, probably ever. But, her friends had fallen for people, people who’d left them in the lurch, broke their hearts. She’d seen the highs and lows of relationships enough times to know what it was like to be in one, (perhaps to know to never be in one) )

But his weak watery smile was worth it, his tears made Annika realise that he truly was as private as he’d come off as, as shy and as reserved as she’d seen in first impressions. 

She’d opened something up in the man in front of her, let him pour his heart out to her. 

They’d  _ bonded _ (...that was bonding, wasn't it?) and Annika felt over the moon. 

His phone however, was vibrating slightly in his satchel draped over his chair, forgotten, silenced.

Kathryn had called 18 times now.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this! Leave a kudo <3333

**Author's Note:**

> if you liked it! leave a kudooo! or a comment :))


End file.
